In American

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

, a letterhead

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived fro ...

(or letterhead group) is a

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...

or other group lacking substantial active membership. In contrast to other civic organizations, letterhead organizations function through the issuance of public letters or other materials using names of notable persons (as on a "letterhead") to inherit their authority, rather than having authority based for example a large number of members. The term has also been used in other countries, such as Canada, and dates back to before 1921. Before that, the term "

paper organization A paper organization is any group which exists more in theory than reality. The term "paper organization" is used in two different contexts, that of the military and that of the labor movement. Military For the military, a unit which is not comba ...

", implying that an organization only existed on paper, was in common use.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

in 1876 referred to a proposed Army Corps as a "paper organisation" as not actually composed of men and equipment. By 1972, the use of such organizations was becoming common. After

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

was re-elected president in 1972, anti-

McGovern McGovern may refer to the following: * McGovern (name), surname of Irish origin * McGovern Institute for Brain Research People: * Jack Michael McGovern current clan Chief b.1989 inherited by right of birth. * Alison McGovern (b. 1980), British ...

Democrats founded the ''

Coalition for a Democratic Majority The Coalition for a Democratic Majority (CDM) was a centrist faction, active in the 1970s within the Democratic Party of the United States. The CDM was formed in December 1972, after the landslide victory of Republican Richard Nixon over Democr ...

'' (CDM), appointing as its director

Penn Kemble Richard Penn Kemble (January 21, 1941 – October 15, 2005), commonly known as "Penn," was an American political activist and a founding member of Social Democrats, USA. He supported democracy and labor unions in the USA and internationally, and s ...

. The CDM's letterhead listed "House Speaker-to-be Tom Foley, Ambassador-to-be

Jeane Kirkpatrick Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a l ...

, civil rights leaders Bayard Rustin, Velma and Norman Hill, the "boss"of Montgomery County Democratic politics Dick Schifter, Ambassador-to-be Peter Rosenblatt and Arms-Control Negotiator-to-be Max Kampelman"; the new organization placed full-page advertisements in ''The New York Times'' and ''The Washington Post''. An initial contributor to the CDM was the Committee on Political Education of the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

. "Letterhead organizations, I realized, could get ink for a point of view, and influence policy", wrote

Ben Wattenberg Benjamin Joseph Wattenberg (born Joseph Ben Zion Wattenberg;Roberts, Sam New York ''Times'', June 29, 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-29. August 26, 1933 – June 28, 2015) was an American author, neoconservative political commentator and demographer, ...

in discussing Kemble and CDM. Later, Kemble used a similar strategy in founding the

Institute for Religion and Democracy The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) is an American Christian conservative think tank that promotes its views among mainline Protestant churches, as well as advocating for its values in the public square. Its critics claim that it has bee ...

and other letterhead organizations.

Pejorative use

The term "letterhead organization" has been used as a pejorative, to stress the small scale of the group or its alleged influence by virtue of its "letterhead members" rather than by its own activities. Some letterhead organizations have been alleged to have been motivated more by fundraising than by influencing policy or informing the public.

Size compared with think tanks

A ''

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

'' generally has a substantial number of employees and supporters actively involved. Such groups may produce peer-reviewed and other journals,

news release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also consider ...

s, position papers, conferences, and the like.

List of groups sometimes labeled as "letterhead organizations"

The following groups have been termed "letterhead organizations" by the reference (cited parenthetically): * State chapters of The Moral Majority (Reichley) *

Project for a New American Century The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservativeAmerican Judicature Society The American Judicature Society (AJS) is an independent, non-partisan membership organization working nationally to protect the integrity of the American justice system. AJS's membership — including judges, lawyers, and members of the public — ...

* ''Social Unit Institute'' *

National Defense Committee The International Labor Defense (ILD) (1925–1947) was a legal advocacy organization established in 1925 in the United States as the American section of the Comintern's International Red Aid network. The ILD defended Sacco and Vanzetti, was ac ...

American Communism and Soviet Russia
'

Theodore Draper Theodore H. Draper (September 11, 1912 – February 21, 2006) was an American historian and political writer. Draper is best known for the 14 books he completed during his life, including work regarded as seminal on the formative period of the Ame ...

; Transaction Publishers; page 175; "''It was primarily a letterhead organization, and all five members of the committee were well-known Communists"''.

References

* Brandon High. "The Recent Historiography of American Neoconservatism". ''The Historical Journal'' Vol. 52, No. 2 (Jun., 2009), pp. 475–49
JSTOR
* McQuaid, Kim. "The corporate counterattack: Fighting for the levers of power (II)." ''Antitrust L. & Econ. Rev.'' 17 (1985): 61. * Reichley, A. James. "Religion and the future of American politics." ''Political Science Quarterly'' (1986): 23-47.

Pejorative use

Size compared with think tanks

List of groups sometimes labeled as "letterhead organizations"

References

Further reading